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Legio Lysanda
The Legio Lysanda ("Sentinels of the Edge") is a Titan Legion of the Collegia Titanica, one of the military arms of the Adeptus Mechanicus. During the Great Crusade this particular Legion was often tasked with guarding the dangerous frontiers of the Imperium, watching over newly Compliant worlds until expeditionary fleets pushed the Imperium's boundaries further outwards. In this task they excelled, for their patience was legendary and their princeps were often devoid of the thirst for glory shown by more aggressive Titan Legions. Legio Lysanda perceive trophies of war gifted to them as the highest honour and display them proudly upon their Titans to show dedication to the Imperium. Legion History Unfolding Wrath.]] Notable Campaigns *'Battle for Armatura (007.M31)' - In the wake of the Battle of Calth, the Word Bearers and the World Eaters Legions launched the Shadow Crusade against the Realm of Ultramar. This campaign saw Titans fighting alongside Space Marine Legions from both sides. During the Battle for Armatura, Legio Audax ''Warhound''-class Titans stalked Legio Lysanda Titans at the behest of the World Eaters. *'Crusade of Iron (ca. 008-010.M31)' - Tetaros Kast, Master-Princeps of Battlegroup Avalon of the Legio Oberon was one of the few Princeps to fight on Calth and return alive. He brought word to the Forge World of Gantz, homeworld of the Legio Praesagius, of the fate of their fellow Titans and the betrayal that had occurred on Calth. The Traitor Legions were at large among the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, and their very survival was at stake. Princeps Dae Vergos, Master-Princeps of the Legio Praesagius Warlord-class Titan Pride of Konor, assumed the mantle of Princeps Ultima and swore vengeance upon the Legio Infernus. He vowed to purge the Five Hundred Worlds of the Traitors' god-engines. Already astropathic cries for aid were reaching Gantz, as the Word Bearers and World Eaters Space Marine Legions, alongside the Legio Infernus, Legio Audax and Legio Mordaxis, spread out from Calth, bringing ruin and despair to the Five Hundred Worlds. Heeding the call of Gantz, Mechanicum fleets gathered, Battle Titans in their holds. Vergos sent emissaries to gather the Legio Oberon and summon the Legio Lysanda back from the Eastern Fringe, while missives were sent to dozens of Knight houses throughout the Five Hundred Worlds, calling in debts of honour. Multiple houses heeded the summons, including House Orhlacc, House Vornherr and House Vyronii. In spite of the betrayal brought to the Five Hundred Worlds, Legio Praesagius gathered its allies and convened its councils of war; the horrors that the Loyalist Titans had faced at Ithraca on Calth would not go unanswered. Princeps Ultima Vergos promised her allies and her fellow Princeps that the Fire Master of the Legio Infernus would face the fury of those still loyal to the Imperium, and wherever the Traitor Titans set foot upon a world, they would find only death. Other Imperial forces soon flocked to their banner and the Legio Praesagius and their allies repeatedly clashed with Horus' forces. This Crusade of Iron would leave worlds burned by its battles and hideous and terrifying weapons were unleashed, such as the Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister. While it raged, the Loyalists fought to preserve the Ultramaran way of life, while the Traitors desired only to leave ruin in their wake. **'Battle of Ulixis - The Wyrm's Lair (ca. 009.M31)' - Ulixis was used as a staging ground by the Legio Infernus to both harm Ultramar and deal severe damage to the Loyalist forces. Ulixis was one of the principal producers of munitions in Ultramar and, knowing its destruction would deal a severe blow to the Ultramarines' effort to rebuild, Princeps Maximus Horgoth Nyr of the Fire Masters set upon the world. In truth, the Legion's invasion was the first step towards springing a trap upon the Loyalists. When a combined force of both the Legio Lysanda and the Legio Oberon were drawn to the world, they found its surface devoid of Traitor Titans despite reports to the contrary. It was then the Traitors sprang their trap, seizing control of the planet's orbit and unleashing a fierce orbital bombardment upon the Loyalists on the surface. Though the initial bombardment was devastating, most of the Loyalist forces were driven into the system of caverns beneath the surface, forcing the Fire Masters to commit to a series of running battles beneath Ulixis. For solar days the two Titan forces fought in the dark, their massive weaponry tearing apart the guts of Ulixis. It was within the Wyrms' Lair, a vast cavern littered with the remains of the burrowing creatures that had carved it long ago, that the conflict came to a head, both sides committing their forces in an effort to eradicate the other. As the fighting raged between the two opposing sides, Princeps Raynal Hess in his Warlord Titan Astra Obsurus, leading a Legio Lysanda Myrmidon maniple, charged out to meet Princeps-Maximus Nyr and his Warlorld Titan Mons Ingnum in battle. However, Hess was unaware of Nyr's fellow supporting Fire Masters Titans, which laid in waiting. Their combined volleys crippled the legs of Hess' Titan. However, before the Traitors could strike the killing blow, Hess overloaded his Titan's reactor, and the pitch darkness of the Wyrm's Lair turned to blazing day. When the explosion finally receded, those Princeps still in functioning war engines were surprised to see the light remained, for a massive hole had been blown in the cavern ceiling, and a stairway of rubble and broken Titans led up to it. More surprising still was the vox message that came streaming down across all bands -- the Loyalist fleet had returned with reinforcements, and the Traitors were in full retreat. Kast rallied Legio Oberon and the survivors of Legio Lysanda, and pushed the Traitors back. Though Nyr and many of his Titans managed to escape, their hold on Ulixis was broken, and perhaps most crucially of all, the Loyalists had driven the Fire Masters back, disproving the invincibility of their enemies. **'Dark Waters (ca. 009.M31)' - Despite their defeat on Espandor, the Loyalist Titan Legions eroded the strength of their enemies across the Five Hundred Worlds. The Legio Mordaxis, a Traitor Titan Legion that had been transformed by the machinations of the Word Bearers Legion, were charged by their Legio Infernus allies to hunt down and destroy Mechanicum forces across the western regions of the Realm of Ultramar. Here, their spies came to the fore and, following reports from Traitors among the Loyalist ranks, the Legio Mordaxis fleet sailed for the remote water world of Zarathusa Secundus. The people of this isolated world existed on floating cities, whose ancient technologies farmed the planet's geothermal wealth. The Loyalists had recently pacified an uprising sparked by Dark Mechanicum cells on the planet, and the aftermath of that war was still evident throughout its shallow seas. The Traitors commenced their attack as the Loyalist forces, commanded by Princeps Tesarius Solomere Krane of Legio Lysanda, aboard his Reaver-class Titan, Purantum Bellos, awaited extraction upon the principal landmass of Zarathusa, known as the Aquila Atoll. The Traitors seized control of both the planet's orbit and the Loyalist vox-net, masquerading as loyal servants of the Imperium until the trap was sprung. As landers approached the surface of Zarathusa, they revealed themselves not as the intended extraction ships but rather transports carrying the Titans of the Legio Mordaxis. Desperate to deny the atoll to the invaders, Legio Lysanda and the Imperial Knights of House Vornherr scrambled to form an effective defence, aware that retreat was not an option without abandoning those ground forces unable to wade through the seas of Zarathusa; seas that turned black as the battle raged and toxins that had ravaged the Legio Mordaxis polluted the ground they walked upon. Despite their valiant efforts, the Loyalist forces were led into a cunningly laid trap by the Dark Mechanium allies of the Legio Mordaxis. Much later, the Loyalists would learn the fate of Zarathusa Secundus and its defenders, though not before the corrupted remains of the Purantum Bellos was encountered on Drooth II, along with the blackened Knight armours of dozens of House Vornherr scions, now enslaved to the Legio Mordaxis machine curse. Combat Doctrine Before a Legio Lysanda princeps can ascend to command a Titan, they are required to sit in silent contemplation for seven solar days to ensure only those with true inner peace ascend to the role. Many Legio Lysanda princeps spend time between conflicts alone in their god-engines, embracing the silence a sleeping Titan offers to better rouse it in times of war. Notable Titans *''Astra Obsurus'' (''Warlord''-class Titan) - The Astra Obsurus was commanded by veteran Princeps Raynal Hess, who led a Lysanda Myrmidon maniple during the Battle of Ulixis. The Battle Titan was destroyed when Hess overloaded reactor of wounded Astra Obsurus and sacrificed himself. *''Lord of Virtues'' (Warlord-class Titan) - During the Great Crusade, for two decades, Lord of Virtues stood in defence of those worlds settled on the edge of the Ghoul Stars, vigilant for threats undescribed in known recorded. Its tenure as sentinel ended when called to war in Ultramar, participating in numerous battles during the Crusade of Iron upon nearly a dozen worlds. Armed with two Sunfury Plasma Annihilators, Lord of Virtues operated as a master of a Vilicus maniple, recording seven confirmed god-engine kills before being redeployed. Drawing upon patience earned through solar decades of service, Lord of Virtures would power down and wait in silence as accompanying ''Warhounds'' drew the enemy into an ambush, the sudden flare of the Warlord's Plasma Reactor bursting into life signalling the death of Traitors. *''Iron Prince'' (''Reaver''-class Titan) - This was one of several Loyalist Titans that took part in the valiant defence of Zarathusa Secundus during the Crusade of Iron. During the subsequent fighting against the Traitor Titans of the Legio Mordaxis, the Iron Prince was overwhelmed by the Traitors' barrage, and its reactor exploded spectacularly, making the Iron Prince the first Loyalist Titan to fall. *''Parantum Bellos'' (Reaver-class Titan) - This Battle Titan was commanded by Princeps Tesarius Solomere Krane, who led the Loyalist defence of Zarathusa Secundus during the Crusade of Iron. Though the Loyalist Titans of Legio Lysanda made a valiant stand, their efforts were all for naught, as they had been led into a carefully laid trap by the Dark Mechanicum allies of the Legio Mordaxis and suffered the dread fate of being enslaved to the Traitor Titan Legion's machine curse. *''Unfolding Wrath'' (Reaver-class Titan) - Though the Sentinels of the Edge were famed for their patience, such a reservoir was not infinite. The magnitude of betrayal during the Horus Heresy wrought many changes upon the Legio Lysanda and a handful of princeps amongst their number cast aside reason in favour of wrath. In recognition of their new creed, such princeps marched to war under new names, for Unfolding Wrath was once known as Argent Flame. To match its newfound purpose, the Reaver was armed with weapons focused on total annihilation, taking to battle on Ulixis as leader of a corsair maniple that stalked the tunnels of the world, tearing into Traitor forces they came across with a reckless abandon far removed from the reputation of their Legion. *''Ardentor'' (''Warhound''-class Titan) - The Ardentor was one of several Titans of the Legio Lysanda to deploy to the War World of Armatura during the Shadow Crusade. During the subsequent fighting, the Ardentor became famous for nearly killing the Word Bearers Primarch Lorgar Aurelian. Observing the battle from orbit, the captain of the World Eaters' flagship Conqueror, Lotara Sarrin, ordered the Legio Audax Warhound Titan Syrgalah (known also as the Ember Queen) to destroy the Ardentor. Approaching the Ardentor from its unprotected flank, the Syrgalah used its Ursus Claw and harpooned the torso of the Loyalist Titan, impaling the cockpit, immediately killing the Ardentor's entire crew. Notable Personnel *'Princeps Tesarius Solomere Krane' - Solomere Krane was a Princeps Tesarius of the Legio Lysanda during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. He commanded the ''Reaver''-class Titan, Purantum Bellos, and took part in several notable battles during the Crusade of Iron. *'Princeps Raynal Hess (KIA)' - Princeps of the Warlord-class Titan Astra Obsurus and commander of a Lysanda ''Myrmidon maniple, Hess was a veteran of the Eastern Fringe and the wars against the xenos. He sacrificed himself during the Battle of Ulixis. *'Princeps Maxamillien Delantyr (KIA)' - Princeps of the ''Warhound-class Titan Ardentor. Killed during the Battle of Armatura. *'Moderati Primus Ellas Hyle (KIA)' - A Moderati of the Warhound-class Titan Ardentor. Killed during the Battle of Armatura. *'Moderati Secundus Kei Adaras (KIA)' - A Moderati of the Warhound-class Titan Ardentor. Killed during the Battle of Armatura. Legion Appearance Legion Colours The Titans of the Legio Lysanda are primarily white with black and gold trim. Often, they paint checkered patterns on various parts of their god-engines. Legion Badge The Legio Lysanda Legion badge is an aquamarine twelve-pointed star, with a small, white open circle centred within it, on a field of black. Sources *''Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy - Shadow and Iron'' (Specialty Game), pp. 8-11, 13-15, 20, 28-30, 59, 61, 66, 70-71 *''Betrayer'' (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Chs. 5, 6 Gallery File:Legio_Lysanda_Warlord-class_Titan.png|''Legio Lysanda'' ''Warlord''-class Titan Lord of Virtues. File:Legio_Lysanda_Warlord_Titan_Princeps_Banner.png|Princeps Honour Banner of the Warlord-class Titan Lord of Virtues. File:Legio_Lysanda_Princeps_Personal_Livery.png|''Lord of Virtues'' Princeps personal livery. File:Legio_Lysanda_Reaver_Banner.png|Princeps Honour Banner of the ''Reaver''-class Titan Unfolding Wrath. Category:L Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Collegia Titanica Category:Imperium Category:Imperial Walkers Category:Walkers